Straight-seaming apparatus.



o; W. DAVIS; STRAIGHT SEAMING AlPAJATU#V APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 29, 1907. '900,6'?. y Patented oet. 6, 1908..

o. W. DAVIS. .STRAIGHT SEAMING APPARATUS.

A PPLIOATIQN FILED 601229, 1907.

Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

"5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

o. W. DAVIS. STRAIGHT SEAMIING- APPARATUS. v

APBLIUATION FILED 001129.15907..

e Patented 0ct.6,1903.

5 BHESTS-SHEET 4.

A 90o-,267. f

0.1W. nuls. S'lRAIGfHTy SEAMING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 0OT.29, 1907.

, Patented oeufs, 190s.

A 5 SHEETS-B11311161.

"jme/for,

- evaluiert: corr foaLEuA WfDAvIs, or Los rANGELES, cALiFonNIA;

s'rRAIcIE'rfsEnMING .enrnnn'rus To all'wlwmt may concern:l f l Be 1t known that I?, )Rnulvn W. DAv1sja citizen of tite .United-V Statesfre'siding at 'Los Angeles, -.ounty of LosvAngeles, State lof California, 'ha-ve invented `new andv useful Imprbvements in Straight-Seaming Apparatus,of which the following isa specification.

My invention relatesv to an apparatus adapted to be used in combinationwith a.

sewing. machine for the continuous seaminga;y

of straioht lengths ofpgoods together and especiallyY for the seam'ingof long strips of vcanvas as used in the manufacture of tents andv the like.

' The 'prime object of my inventionis to Aprovide an apparatus Which will automatic'-,

ally carry the-goods through t'hemachine and pile it up after having passed through the same in la convenient position to be han.-

filled. v

In pursuance. of the above object it is an object to provide a mechanism which Will au- Sp'ec'ication of Letters Patent. l Appuvanm niet; october 29, i907. p serial Messiaen.

Patented oet. e, 190s'.

Referring-.to thedrav'vings 10 designates a sewing machine 'of the ower type which stands up'onifloor' `1'1 an connect the mainy shaft wit-hcounterfshaft 14 of the machine. One of these belts is crossed While the other isstraight and a i L clutch 1.5 operated by lever 16 affords means whereby the machine may be run in veither 65 Vdirection as is desirableimder some cirumvs tancesas hereinafter 'd'esc-ri'becil.l A belt 17v I connects counterisha-ft r14' with the upper mechanismof the machine which is located..

in 'arm 18 thereof, needle 19 being situated'V 70.

at the outer end of the arm asin the usualV construction. i i Located to the rear ofthe machine and revolublymounted on supporting standard 20 is a roll or bolt of cloth 21..A Cloth 21h75 passes forwardly and upwardly from the roll onto a 'cylinder 22 'supported in bearings 23 above the sewing machine. Ras'sing -ol' Vof cylinder 22the cloth passes forwardly I is operated fronr" mamA shaft -12 by means of belts 13 which 6g i f tomatically feed a Wide strip of vgoods I anism in convenient` form .so-that it may be placed around the maclnnevwith'out inter-l `fcrlngr with the mechanism thereof. d

device described vherein and. illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings-in which and downwardly' as shown in F igs; 1 yand 6 80 andpasses between'a series of pulleys 24. and

- 253 showin in plan in Fig. 2 and inendlelevation in Fig. 3. The mechanism for the right hand outer set of'I pulleys in Fig. 3 Will lirst `be described, the other mechanisms and ar- 85 through a` narrow space beneath the-sewing machine arm'.

A further obllect is to provide such-mech- I accomplish these objects by means 'of the 0118. v Pulleys 24g and 25, are mounted on shaft 2G.. and on hanger 27 so as to come direct-ly Figure 1,.'is a side elevation of myA comrang'ements being somewhat siniilart-o this Y over tl1e.ri, 9;hthand edge of cloth 21 as so the pai rs of belts.

plete improved apparatus. Fig..` 2,- is a plan view of the same, parts of the clotlibeingr' broken away for clarity of illustration.'

Fig. 3, a sectional end elevation taken on line 3--3 of Fig. l-the ploth being removed from parts of the mechanism. Fig. 4, is a sectional'elevation ofthe receiving tables and the` piling apparatus taken on lino 4-4 of Fig. l. "3Fig.5. is. an enlarged sei-tional elevation of the lilachine vandthe parts attached thereto taken on line `--rof Fig. 1. Fig. is an enlarged vert-ical sec tion taken on liucI G-G of Fig. 3 with the cloth in place. Fig'. 7,- isahorizontal'sec-v tiont'aken on' line A7-#Tof 6, 1Eig.'8,e is a fragmentary'perspective detail Of One of Fig. '95# an enlarged sectional View ofthe cloth showing :the belts of Fig. 8 in engagement therewith. Fig. 10,- is an enlarged vertical section taken on f um 10--10 of Fig. a. Fierais a detail perspective of part of the piling apparatus.

shown in 3. An endless belt 28 passes overpulley 25 upwardly from a sprocket pulley' 29 rigidly mounted on a shaft 30 lwhich is adapted -to be driven throughy t medium bf a belt 3l from counter-shaft 14. 95 As shownin Figs. 2A and. Sbelt 28 is pro vided with spacedholes 32 therein whichv are adapted to fit over teeth 33 of pulley 29 so:

that the `loelt' may be driven by "tlie pulley' i y .Passingfloo downwardly Vfrom pulley 25. belt 28` passes without any slippage thereon.`

onto and over a curved guide '38, Whose shape 1s shown 1n the various figures and which extends 4from pulleyV 25 to a point" near the machine base plate. Fromv the 195 lower end of the guide the'bel't'passesonto 'a 'A .small vertically pivoted pulley 37 located on base plate 36 of the'machine and situated under one edge of the arm as shown in Fig.

Il. In order to'pass over this pulleyA the belt 110 must twist into the position illustrated most clearly in Fig. 5 and while in tlns posit-ion it passes under the arm of the machine to a Second small pulley 35 which is located under the othel edge of the. arm in a position to correspond with that of pulley 37.l On passing o pulley belt 28 again twists to its normal position as sho`wn in Fig. l and passes dia onally outwardly to a sprocket pulley 34 rom which `it passes horizontally to pulley 29. From Fig. 3'it will be seen that guide 38 must pass diagonally downward in order to reach from pulley 25 to pulley 37 as pulley 37 is located some distance in beyond the vertical plane `of the upper pulley. s

Passing over pulley 24 is a second endless belt .39 which is similar in construction to belt-28 as shown in Fig. 8. Passing forwardly and downwardly from pulley 24 belt 39 passes overguide 38, the guide being grooved on `its outer surface as shown in Fig, 7 to accommodate the belt. Passing ott the lower end of guide 38 along with belt 28 belt 39 passes over pulleys 37 and .35 as shown in Fig. 5 and thence outwardly and rearwardly to the under side of sprocket pulley 40 whence it passes upwardly to pul-` ley 24. Sprocket pulley 40 is mountedA on a shaft 41 provided on its outer end witha gear 42 which meshes with a companion gear 43 on shaft 440i sprocket 'pulley 34 (see Fig. 3). Sprocket pulleys 40 and 34 arethereby forced to rotate at the same speed so that belts 28 and 39 are driven together.

As before stated cloth 2l is adapted to pass downwardly with its outer edge betweenpulleys 24 and 25, the cloth passing directly between belts 28 and 39 as shown in Fig. 1.- As illustrated in Fig. 8' belt 28 is provided with a series of projecting points 45 on its inner surface, or the surface towards, belt 39. Belt 39 is provided with a.'

series of corresponding depressions 4G which are adapted to register with points 45 while the belts are being propelled around guide ln order to insure of points 45 always .registering with depressions 46 belt 28 is made longer than belt 39 by a length which is a multiple of the distance.bctwcen succcssivepoints 45 or depressions 46. rl`hus it willbe lseen that, upon'the passage ot the belt over guide 38, the points and depressions will register with each other and will continue to do so until thetwo belts separate by passing over pulleys 34 and 40. lly means ofgthis arrangement cloth 21 will be grasped tightly between the two belts as shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 9 and will be held between the same until the two belts separate at the point above mentioned. and the outer edge of the cloth will be carried inwardly through the arm of the sewing machine and then outwardly again until its full width is reached shown in plan in Fig.

A s -illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 there arc a number of sets of pulleys 24 and 25 arranged 'structio'n to guide 38 with the exception that it is situated in a vertical plane, pulley 25a heiligv` directly7 above pulley 53 over which the belts pass on passing under the sewing machine arm. As illustrated in Fig.

5 pulley 53 is located as near the inner edge.

of cloth 2l as is practicable to allow needle 19 suilicient room in which to operate. Belt 5t) passes downwardly from pulley 24 over `guide 52 around pulley 53 and upwardly again topullcy 241.V Belt 51 passes over pulley 25u downwardly over guide 52 and then horizontally, as illustrated in Fig. l() over a pulley 54' mounted on a small shaft 55. and thence. horizontally to pulley 56 rigidly mounted on shat't 3() whence it passes upwardly to pulley 25a again.

Betweenl thc sets ot' belts belonging to pulleys 24 and 25l and pulleys 24 and 25a `are three other similar sets of belts and guides one ot which, the center one, is identical in construction with the set last described and which set l will designate throughout by the numeral GO. lt will be seen thatthe three sets of belts so far described will carry those parts ot' the cloth which they grip down to the bed plate of the sewing machine. The remaining two sets ot' belts are similar in every respect to those described except that they carry the cloth to apoint directly under the arm and -as high above thc -base plate as the height of tht` arm will allow. One, of these sets is shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 6 and will be, dcscribed, thc other sct' beimr similar in construction and placement. lu

lcy 25 ot' this sct is provided with a belt 7() which passes downwardly from the pulley over guide 71, which is similar to thc guides before described except that' its lower end is as iar ahoyc. thc bed plate of the machine as the heighty ot' the arm will allo\v. Passing horizontally from the lower end of guide 7l. liclt Tt) passes onto the upper side of a small pulley T2 mounted on a standard Til which supportsit above the bed plate ol the inachine. lassing around pulley T2 bclt Tl) passes horizoiitally forward as shown in Figs. l. 2 and V onto a pullcy Tl rigidly mounted on sha l't 75 journalcd in frame 76. Passingfrom pulley T-t the belt passcs uplll) wardly and rearwardly again to pulley 25. y

lullcy 2l is provided with a belt Ti' which passes do\\'n\\'ardly and forwardly oll' thc same onto guide Tl beneath bclt Tt). the two bells holdin;` cloth 2l between them by simple friction.V ()n passing horizontally ofi the lower cnd of guide Tl belt TT passes onto these two shafts. Shaft 79 is provided with' a sprocketv wheel Bon its outer endiover which a crossed sprocket belt 84 1s adapted to pass and connect sprocket 83 with a similar sprocket 85 located on the end of shaft 75. By this means shafts V'75 and 79 'aredriven at the same speed so that, all the belts of the: sets connected to these shafts move uniformly at the same speed of travel. shaft 75 being driven by a belt S6 from counter-shaft 11 ut the same speed as shaft 30 so that all the belts of all the sets will also be driven at the same speed as these two sets.

From the foregoing description it 'willbe seen that the cloth is gripped between the numerdus sets of belts and is .carriedthereby forwardly and downwardly and then rearwardly thr hgh the arm ofthe machine. lt'

will be seen from the relative shapes and positions of the forms over which the belts pass that the cloth will gradually belworked into a cross sectional configuration such as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 5 andthat therefore it will be enabled to pass through the arm of the machine.v ()n passing out from beneath the arm the cloth is again spread ont atly by diagonal outward movement of the outside-belt and is ready to be piledup by the-mechanism presently to be described.

In Fig, 2 l `have illustrated a strip of cloth 9() which adapted to 4run alongside of the machine as shown in Fig. 5 so that its inner 'edge'. the edge towards the machine, will come under the inner edge'ot' strip2l, both' the edges passing under needle 54 ina position to besewn together. Strip maybe `taken from a pileon thelioor or from aroll whichever is the more convsmient, it making no difference in the `operation ot' my ap'' paratus. As. strip 90 approaches the machine it is taken between two belts lll. and 92, above and below the strip respectively, which belts holdthe strip tightly between' themand carry it forwardly through the machine at the saine speed at whichstrip 21 ismove'd by. the mechanism hereinbetore described. Belt ill passes over' pulleys )31and 94 wQhich are mounted on supports and 96, respectively, while belt 12 passes over pulleys 97fand 98 which are mounted on supports 95 and 99. lulley 97 is mounted on shaft -1()0 whieh carries a 'pulley 101 connected` by a blt102 lo af pulley 5102-5 on eounter-slnift 14 and by` rmeans of which belt 92 is moved in a"'direction to move strip il() through the machine f strips of cloth together.

along-With strip 21. f=.Belt 91 is moved iu the same direction-.through lfrictional contact with the cloth at the polnts where the cloth passesbetween the pulleys over whichv the belt runs. By thi'sJnea-ns it will be-seen that the two strips offcloth are moved in 'unison through the machine at a speed Whlch may be regulated by the' relative sizes. ofthe driving pulleys to suit the speed at which the machine is capable of sewing the two In case the threads should break, it is only necessary to throw clutch 1550 as to reverse the machine, at the 'same time lifting theneedle by'y the yusual mechanism, when the clothmay b'e run-'back to the oint where the break occurred. -It now only remains to pile lthe cloth in somesuitable and convenient 'man-ner, so that it may belhandl'ed subsequently, to renderthe device complete. Located immediately behind pulleys 3 4 and -10 which carrythe' rear ends of belts 28 .and 39 is a set of belts 120 which receivey the outer edge of cloth 21 immediately behifl the n point where the cloth leaves belts 28 and 39 90 and carries it rearwardly and piles itfvon ay table-121 which is movabl y mounted on rails 122 so as to be moved transversely` ofthe strips of cloth. This set. is comprised 0f two belts 123 and 124 which runover pulleys 95 125 located directly behindv pulleys/3ft and f' 40 and pulleys 126 located over the rear, edge of table 121. Pulleys 125 are rotatedthrou, 1;h` the medium or meshing gears 127, one ofA which is rotated by means of' a b'elt connec tion 12S with counter-shaft 1.4. Each of the belts is provided 'with over-hanging metallic fingers 129 aslshown in detail in'Fig. 11 be.

tween which cloth 21 is adapted to begrasped andheld tightly until the fingers pass l around pulleys'12t3 when they pass apart.

from each other and thus release 'the cloth.-

These fingers arel provided at regular' intel'- va-ls 4on the belt, the spare between adJacent yfingers being approximately equal to`-twice the width of pile 130 of cloth 21 as'seen in Fig. 1.. Each of the belts is a sprocket belt,

pulleys being sprocket pulleys sothat the lingers are always enabled to come into 'engagement wlth each other upon passing tance behind the pain just-referred to equal to twieelhe width of the pile. As this point is carried forwardly the cloth will be gradually doubled up into the position shown in Fig. 1 when it will be dropped onto the pile.

From the immediately foregoing description itl will be seen that the outer edge of the cloth will be piled in a zigzag fashion, the, remainingparts ot the cloth being allowed to adjustthen'iselres more or less perfectly to this condition. The inner stitched edges of strips 21aiid 5)() are carried positi\'ely up to the. edge of the pile by means of belts 91 and 92 so that. that part of the sewed strip is free to adjust itself without any hiulraucc by the weight. oisagging ot' the rest ot' the strip. ln the application of my device shown in thedrawings I. ha ve illustrated strip tl() as being coinposerhof only one width ot cloth,

and in this case that strip will pile up in a fashion almost asv perfect. as that ot' the outer edge of strip 21. But it. is obvious that. strip 90 may be composed of any number of widths of cloth and in this case the tar edge of the strip will only follow approximatey the convolutions ot' strip 21, it being necessary with very wide pieces to either handle the outer edge by hand or to'let it lie as it will on the floor. The prime reason for piling the cloth after having been-sewed together is to facilitate its handling so' that successive'. strips may be sewed to its edge. In this case the. pile of cloth is removed trom table 121 and is placed in front. of the machine with its edge correspondingto thepositon in which the inner edge of strip 90 is illustrated, thc whole composite strip, in fact, becoming a new strip' 90. To facilitate the removal of the cloth piled upon table 121 I have mountedtliat table on rails 122 so that. it may be n'loved to a position directly in front ot' a table 131 onto which the pile of cloth may be thrown, when table 121 may be moved back to its .normal position to rev ceive another pile of cloth.

lFrom theforegoing description it'will be observed that l have provided an apparatus by means of which the cloth may lie-fed through a sewing machine in a regular and eliicient manner and afterwards piled up in a convenient. position to be subsequently worked upon without any needless work on the part ot' the. operator. It will further be noted that Ilan'i enabled `to handle goods of any width it. only being necessary to design my apparatus tor a given width of goods and space under the machine arm. The number ot" belts vpassing the goods through the arm and their arrangement will -depend on the width of the goods and the available space-under the arm, and the number may be either more. or less thaiiiis shown in the drawings to suit the needs ot' any particular case. Thus for wider goods than that shown the number of belts is increased accordingly lso that enough convolutions are made in it to pass it through the arm.

llaving described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters latent is z,-

l. In combination with a machine having a cloth support,a post and an overhangingarni a plurality of belt guides converging from points above the machine to points. adjacent the space between the'arm and the cloth support, cloth carrying belts passing over said guides-and through the space between the arm andthe cloth support, and'means to operate said bclts 2. In combination with ainachine havinga cloth sup port.I a post and an overhanging arm;

a plurality ot'. curved belt guides converging trom a line above the machine to points adjacent the space between the arm and the cloth support, endless cloth carrying belts passing over said guides and through the space between. the arm and the cloth support, and means to operate said belts.

3. In combination with a machine havin a cloth support,a post and ovcrliangingarm a plurality of cloth carrying belts arranpd to pass between the arm and the' cloth support, alternate belts being arranged in proxunity to the cloth support and the arm respectively, and means to support and operate said belts.

4. In combination with a machine having a cloth support, a post and an overhangingarm; a plurality of belt' guides converging from points above the machine to points adjacent Vthe space between the arm and the cloth support, alternate guides converging to points near the arm and the cloth support respectively, cloth carrying belts passing over said guides and through the space between the arm and the cloth support., and means to operate said belts.

5. In combination with a machine liavinga cloth support,a post and an overhangingarm; a plurality of sets of belts passing through the space between the arm und the cloth support, alternate sets ot' belts passing close to the arm and the cloth support respectively7 each set comprising a pair ot' belts adapted to grip the cloth between them, and.

means to support and operate said belts.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name t-liis'21st day of October, .1907.

ORLENA W. DAVIS.

Witn esses Timmins BAitiinnnw, )Liini PALMER. 

